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Art Classes

08/27/2014

“In this modern world where activity is stressed almost to the point of mania, quietness as a childhood need is too often overlooked. Yet a child's need for quietness is the same today as it has always been--it may even be greater--for quietness is an essential part of all awareness. In quiet times and sleepy times a child can dwell in thoughts of his own, and in songs and stories of his own.” ― Margaret Wise Brown

It's been nearly three weeks, but I can still hear the quiet scratch of a pencil dragged across paper, the dip and swirl of paintbrushes against glass. These sweet faces and glorious works of art waiting patiently for the busyness of life, the back to school ordering of things to come to a quiet hush. And as I sorted and sized each photo, I remembered each face and spark of imagination that came to life under our little tent. Art camp 2014 is since gone but these beautiful children will continue to shape me, inspire me and lead me to a place of courage and bravery. And for this, I am beyond grateful.

02/11/2013

I almost made it to the house without eating one single chocolate. Almost.

But there was the stoplight, the one that lasted two seconds too long and the open bag looming on the passenger seat and the wide mouth opening with Valentine chocolate pouring out.

Almost.

He sat upstairs and colored in his book while I cut the remaining paper and set the Valentines on each of the tables. I could hear his little feet, like soft paws, jump from the couch and the squeak of the wood under his heels. There was the telltale pull of the stool from the counter and I could almost hear his arm reach into the bag.

There was the wrinkle of plastic. And the mighty rain against window spill of individually wrapped chocolates onto the floor.

Small feet running back to the chair, silent thud of chair feet on wood, and the thick pile of aluminum wrappers under one green velvet pillow.

Almost.

The tables were set, the red of the tulip opening just as the morning light crept over the counter. He held each Valentine in his hand and shook his head in seven year old boy disgust. Too much kissing on Valentine's day.

"Where's the chocolate?"

The boys are getting older. And Valentine's Day isn't a top priority for them. But it is for this mama of three boys, an opportunity to lay it on thick, all of the girliness I can muster in a house full of men.

And sometimes they surprise me. With their sweet words and open and shut Valentine cards made just for me. And the chocolate rimmed lip kisses and the flowers behind their backs. (Even if I am the one who bought them.)

Because it doesn't take a lot of effort to make this one mama heart happy. A couple pieces of chocolate and a few soft snuggles in front of the fire. Three little men and one tall Mr. And an afternoon with small hands making beautiful art.

Shadowbox Valentine Cards

Materials:

1 sheet heavyweight paper (I used a large piece of watercolor paper)ScissorsHole Punch1 strip of red ribbon (appx. 36")Watercolor paints (we used gouache because I had a lot leftover in the studio and because it is so fun to say.) Colored pencilsThree small pieces of watercolor paper 1-2"x 4" 1-2"x 6" 1-3" x 5" RulerTracing Paper Glue Stick or hot glue

To begin, cut your large piece of watercolor paper into a piece that is 10" x 22". Once the paper is cut, create folds every 7 inches. (a fold at 7", 14", and 21") You can use your ruler to apply pressure to the watercolor paper, as it can sometimes be a bit thick.

Cut a heart opening on the last box connected to the 1" fold. This will be the front of the box card. (Keep in mind this is only a three sided box.)

Once the heart is cut, pick up your paper and connect the ends. Punch a hole on the top and bottom for the ribbon. Be sure you are punching the hole through two layers. (the front and the back of the card.) This will hold the card together at the end.

Once you have your holes punched, lay the sheet out flat and trace your heart opening. Now create an outline that is approximately 1/4" wider than the opening. This heart will be the frame of your heart opening that will get glued to your card later.

Once you have the outline cut, go ahead and get your small pieces of paper cut too. You should have some watercolor paper left over from your big piece.

And now for the fun part. Begin with the interior of your box card. You will be painting just the two interior squares (not the square with the heart cut out). Create your background. Just the background. The students were making gardens so they made a grass and sky background, while some decided to make a seascape and did a sky and some water. Be creative.

While the backgrounds dried, we made out interior components from the three pieces of cut paper. The short piece (2" x 4") will be set in the farthest part of the background, so the children made this a dark green grass. The long piece of paper (2" x 6") is the grass closest to the front so they used a lighter green for this grass. But, it is completely up to the artist. The children making the sea scenes, made varying colored waves which was beautiful too!

The last piece of cut paper (3" x 5") will be for the flowers (or a boat or even a shark! for the seascape scenes.) The children cut our flowers to be attached with glue to the front grass.

Once the pieces are dry, you can glue flowers to the grass. You can use a glue stick or a hot glue gun for a more permanent hold.

While these pieces are drying, go back to the big piece of paper and turn the landscape over. Paint the outside of the box card a desired color. We chose red, but pink would be lovely too.

One side note: Make sure your work area is dry when you flip your paper over or you will get paint on your landscape.

And don't forget to paint your heart frame for the front! (Choose a contrasting color so it stands out.)

We also used oil pastels on the dry paint to add detail. So sweet:)

This is where I got pretty busy with assembling. Thank goodness for extra hands. (Thank you Mrs. Lowe!) So, not too many pictures. Once everything is dry, connect the punched holes and string a ribbon through the holes to secure the box. Fold 1" tabs on the grass pieces, and from the bottom, slide the grass/flowers inside the assembled box. Be sure to add your hot glue or glue stick to the tabs before sliding them inside.

12/10/2012

There is still no snow. Just the quiet gray and black lined limbs of trees waiting to hold the white dust like vintage Christmas cards. I'll need to be patient. Shake my snow globe and visit the glittered, white fabric holding our little village of houses and snowmen. Tip toe past the beaded glass garland and pinecone band of elves playing their flutes and trombones on my kitchen counter.

We lifted the tree from the top of the car this morning after the boys scattered through the door and waved their goodbyes. There is always a moment, the moment when the tree is released, the twine once holding all of its soft white pine, cut, branches falling into place, waiting for the hands to decorate it. And it is in this moment, when true shape is revealed, when the gift opened, the bow torn, this faint line of love outlining the very meaning of these days.

The boys will come home and rummage through boxes of handmade ornaments and I will teeter over the box marked FRAGILE, gently craning to place each glass globe out of harms way.

There are these words, To and From, gracing the cardboard and paper creations. The sweet scribe of his four year old hands, the jagged outline of fingers and thumbs turned magically into trees.

And I think of his heart and the way it poured out onto the page. The way he reached and wished for this way to reveal this tender place inside of him. And the excitement bubbling and churning inside his stomach as he thought of the secret gift he would place into my open hands when he got into the car.

And his eyes watched as I opened his gift, the tapping foot, the leap and kick of his toes, his arms swirling in the air, "Open it! Open it!"

And the anticipation of this love opened like a closed flower blooming under the soft backdrop of white snow falling, melting on the car's warm windshield.

"I love it so much. It's beautiful."

And the shoulder up to the ear and his arms reaching to pull me in.

"Beautiful."

We made our own gifts this week in the studio. A papercut version of this love, a gift to hold behind our backs until the moment is just right, when our hearts can take it no more and this creation must be given and our heart and eyes seen.

"Beautiful."

So we brought all of the festive we could find, the cheer and merry, the happy and holy, and carried it all into the studio. The moments we made and gave, held and shared, and poured them all into one handmade poinsettia vase for a very special To and From.

And there was the imagining, the wondering, the waiting. The anticipation building for the glue and the cut that would come together to create a moment. To. From.

And the certainty given to this moment, extending into the heart of another, the hands unwrapping, the toe tapping, the hands wringing, the heart waiting. And the string cut, revealing the true shape of love, held tight in these eyes and hearts.

Use your medium colored red paper to cut 5 large petals. Use your light colored red paper to cut 5 small petals. The light petals will be the interior flower inside the larger flower.

Use your dark red paper to cut long stems for each flower petal. The dark stems will go on both the medium and light petals. Use your glue (either gluestick or matte medium) to secure the stems in place.

You will end up with 5 large petals and 5 small petals, all ten with dark red stems.

Now, cut our two to three leaves for the flower. Start by cutting out the large petals with the medium colored paper. Then use the darker colored paper to create an interior petal that will be glued inside to create shading.

Once you are finished with the leaves and petals, you can begin assembling the flower. Start with a sturdy piece of white paper. I use a nice tag paper. Start with your leaves. Placing a small amount of glue on your paper, begin creating a star, moving around in a circle. Follow the shape of your stems to create the star.

It is important to note: Do not glue the entire petal down onto the paper. It will create difficulty when you go to cut it off of the paper. Just glue under the center if possible.

Once your flower is dry, you can cut it out. Be sure to cut from behind the flower, so the paper it is adhered to is left unseen.

Take your wire and cut a size appropriate for the vase you are using. It will act as your stem. Give yourself a bit extra to create the coiled area the flower will be glued onto. Using your needle nose plier, wrap the wire around the nose of the plier until it looks like a small coil or nest. At this point I use the palm of my hand or the top of the pliers to flatten the coil.

Use hot glue to attach the coil to the bottom of the flower. I sometimes place an additional piece of paper over the glue when it is hot to give extra reinforcement. At this point you can place your poinsettia inside the vase!

Use ribbon of your choice and make a special handmade tag of your design with words of love and merry wishes.

11/06/2012

Winter is near. I can hear him clearing his throat behind the gray stacked clouds and the fallen oak leaf making its farewell trip to the ground. There was ice on the road. The glassy tickle of a first frost. The quiet shake and hold, the white handed knuckles wrapped gently around each stem. And my heart jumped. There was a trickle of excitement, for the impending quiet and soft fallen snows. My feet woke the ground with each step. And I tried not to wake them from their deep slumber.

The light wished and fell and moved in the breeze. My coat caught the edge of the stem and a pane of broken glass frost fell to the ground. So I sat in the audience and watched as the sun found each crystalized heart and warmed it with its smile.

And sometimes it is best to wait, to let the heart thirst. To feel the build and the swell. And this time, this leading up to, it asks for the quiet nurture of candles lit in darkened windows, the gentle fire left to burn only in the glow of its last embers.

And for the cold heart, the heart waiting for the hand of warmth, it is this curve of love that retreats the frosted morning. There is a season between seasons, the wait. The flex and hold. The arched back, the holding close. The waiting for the sun to reach the heart, for fingers to find deep pockets, for the cheek to feel the red frost itch against the stoked fire.

It seems almost impossible to think of this coming holiday season, to move past days not yet lived. But we did. We journeyed ahead to lay a path for love to follow this December. When hands are held tighter, with cheeks fully flushed with warmth and wonder, when these eyes will fill with the reflected twinkly light on dark paths. And home is home again.

Curtains opened, soups spilled into handheld cups and the stream of smoke from chimneys warmth spreading laughter and memory over the naked forest.

"How will we know when it's time?"

When the season is ripe with lit trees and cinnamon ornaments and the wayward holly berry is found under open cabinet doors.

And the smallest hand found freedom in the rise.

"What if we loved every day?""What if we all shared something that was ours?"

A smile. A hope. A dream. A card. A poem.

Our hearts.

And the path grew longer.....

Our 25 days of Love. Our very own Advent Calendars.

And they began. With day one.

How will I give? How will I share? How will I love from right here?

25 cards for 25 days for 25 hearts.

So they drew. They outlined and filled and placed the decorated expressions of warmth on each and every card. They stopped to laugh, to shake their tired hands, to reach for the artist's choice sustenance.....cheese nips and pretzels.

And their hearts became softer and their words moved between them.

"What if I gave her a new toy?""What if I made him a a Lego?"

"What if I gave my mom a great big kiss?"

And the voice of every heart that ever opened its doors to the world, the voice that shakes in the wintery air of vulnerability. This voice, found its way between shapes and textures, watercolors spilling and laughter holding.

"But what if they don't like it?"

"What if they laugh?"

"What if it isn't good enough?"

And she needed to know. Right then. Right now. How will these words be protected? How will my heart know when to open its doors?

How will I know when it's time?

When the frost is thick and the sun is still hidden, when the dark clouds blanket the sunrise in its weight, when your wee path is covered in snow. A light will come. The rise suspended between morning light and nightfall's shadow. And one small stream of smoke from a chimney hidden deep within the forest will find your heart and pull you back home to this place of safety. Where love is real. Where love is strong. Where love melts this morning frost.

And your voice will feel free to run past the broken frost falling and these hands will give and shape and hold. The moment the paint meets the page and the holy words are written....

To:

From:

Because this love you hold is bigger than all of the doors still closed.

Your words are the warmth on the coldest morning. Your hands bring color to the deepest shade of gray. This love is the first ray of light on a frosted morning drive.

And your love, your love is the sweet lit candles on a cold winter night guiding a lost heart home, melting the last bit of frost on one hopeful, curled petal.

10/22/2012

He spent the morning looking through the big books. The books that require the paint splattered step stool and a fearless climb onto the work table. He bent back the pages, marking them with torn pieces of paper and gum wrappers. The gum he snuck when I was making dinner. The gum that ended up on the back side of the blue chair. The gum that required a butter knife to get it off. That gum.

"We need to make something good."

His foot dangled from the edge of the table. His pajama bottoms creeped perilously to the edge of the SIZE SMALL tag. And his back made straight by an idea. Finger pointing straight to the sky as if to add an exclamation point to his thought.

"Pugs!"

"Let's make pugs!"

He climbed down off the table and wandered the studio. Did you know that a pug can't be outside if it's too hot because their smooshed up faces keep them from breathing? And you have to, really need to clean the wrinkles on their faces because they get all yucky in there and don't squeeze them too hard, or hug 'em too hard cause if you squeeze them too hard, well...their eyes can pop out. There is that.

He climbed back up onto the table.

"Owls are nice too."

"Maybe we should just make owls."

So we drew some pictures and made some plans. Blueprints, he said. And we made some steps, because "art class can't have rules." And he practiced saying, "You're awesome" as he pulled his pajama pants up with his curled hand still holding onto his last piece of gum.

And we made some coloring cards and put up some tables and made sure all of the brushes were clean.

So we could have ourselves our very own Hootenanny! Because it's fun to say and it sounds better than art class.

The Steps:

Step One:

Find an old board to use as your background. We used 1/2" plywood, cut down to 10" x 12". Use a water based red paint to paint your background. We spread the excess paint with a paper towel to give it a "stained" appearance.

Step Two:

We used acrylic paper to create a birch tree background for your owl to sit on. Be sure to use the rough side of the paper. Using water based paint in a dark charcoal or grey color, and one dry brush, slowly drag the brush and paint over the paper in straight lined columns. It will create a textured appearance similar to a birch tree.

Step Three:

Draw templates for the body and wings. Trace the templates onto a sturdy board. We used white poster board.

Step Four:

Create templates for the head, eye background and ears. Trace and cut the head from a firm brown board. We used a kraft color poster board. The eye background will be cut from a grey poster board, and the ears from brown poster board.

Step Five:

Eyes: The eyes have three parts, the white circle, the black pupil and the brown eyebrows. All can be created with a thin construction paper.

Expression:

Play with your expressions. The eyes give the owl his personality!

Step Six:

Finish up your body with two feet and a beak, both made from black construction paper.

Step Seven:

Body Feathers: We used some old gray papers we had in the studio. You can use any paper you have around and paint them various shades of gray. Just be sure the paper isn't too thick. Draw a simple feather shape on the papers and start cutting. It was helpful for the children to stack several papers at a time and cut them at once.

To glue the feather to the body, we used a Liquitex Matte Gel adhesive. It's water based and doesn't dry too fast or too slow. A glue stick or school glue would would as well. We started at the bottom and worked out way up the body, stacking and layering the feathers for texture.

Step Eight:

Wing Feathers: We used the same technique for the wings as we did for the body. But instead of grey paper, we used several shades of brown. Again, this can be brown paper or painted brown papers you create on your own.

Step Nine:

We used a sharpie marker to give the grey eye background more detail. Start with a line straight down the middle. Create two center dots on each side and create a sunburst design for the eyes to sit on.

Step Ten:

Glue the face together. Keep in mind again the use of expression. Try different positions for the ears and a slight tilt of the head can create even more drama.

Step Eleven:

Glue the wings and completed head to the body! Looking good!

Step Twelve:

Add a little love to your owl. One simple heart. We used a thicker paper for this piece, but construction paper or any recycled paper would be fine.